The manufacture of woven fabric is today done on weaving machines, which pull their warp threads from a warp beam, that is normally prepared for warp-lengths or lot sizes of more than 1000 yards. The warp-beam is a major element for the manufacture of woven fabric. For its own manufacture there is a time consuming and costly process that is relatively independent from the warp length. Therefore only long warp lengths, as indicated before, are economically feasable in the manufacture of woven fabric. For the manufacture of standard fabric, for example for a normal white shirt fabric, it does not matter that the fabric has to be produced in so large lot sizes, because this kind of fabric is always used as a standard fabric. But for the fast moving fashion cycles which often require a huge variety of patterns, the manufacture of a normal warp beam is a handicap, because it is very difficult to forecast how much of a specific fabric will be sold later on.
Therefore it is a requirement today to find an economical process that enables the manufacture of woven fabric in relatively short lengths (small lot sizes), for example in lengths of a few hundred yards and below. A warp beam for such a short length requires so much work, that the woven fabric becomes much more expensive per yard, often so much more, that the manufacture of this fabric is economically not justifiable anymore.